...even when things aren't done baking? I think it's a GF phenomenon. I will stick in a toothpick or a skewer or a knife and it will come out clean and everything will appear okay. But then once cooled, stuff is underbaked. It kind of stinks because it's so easy to dry out GF stuff that overbaking would ruin everything, but obvs underbaking sucks, too. My solution has been to test early and then give it 5 more minutes. Has anyone else noticed this?

...even when things aren't done baking? I think it's a GF phenomenon. I will stick in a toothpick or a skewer or a knife and it will come out clean and everything will appear okay. But then once cooled, stuff is underbaked. It kind of stinks because it's so easy to dry out GF stuff that overbaking would ruin everything, but obvs underbaking sucks, too. My solution has been to test early and then give it 5 more minutes. Has anyone else noticed this?

I'm not a tester and haven't experienced this, but to some point it makes sense (with my limited knowledge of things)

I assume that in regular baking things, stuff is "done" when the gluten are fixed/fixated and the skewer or needle comes out clean.

When it's gluten free, that no longer is an indicator if the recipe or mix is fully done ?

(where is susie tofu monster? she's the kind of person that could probably explain it all)

On the topic of the thread - So the toothpick test doesn't adequately identify the point at which these products are "done". These are my thoughts as to why you might notice this especially for gluten-free formulations:

* In gluten free batters, instead of doneness being a result of protein coagulation AND starch gelatinization, it is likely only or very-mostly-only a function of starch gelatinization, because gluten free vegan products probably don't have a lot of structural dependence on protein coagulation/gelation. Starch gelatinization starts at 140F, while gluten coagulation starts at 165F [1]. So, in a gluten-utilizing cake, the dry toothpick signals the temperature where protein coagulation happens has been reached, which is much higher than the starch gelatinization temperature. SO, it means that starch gelation has probably had the chance to reach completion.

* Gluten free things sometimes contain thickening components that do not require high heat to perform their thickening action, such as xanthan gum, which increases viscosity even before heating. Even if no gums are used, I'd guess that for a final product to be the correct texture, that maybe the starting batter must be thicker relative to the desired final texture than a batter containing proteins with structure-providing ability. The toothpick coming out dry really only means that a certain minimum thick and cohesive texture has been reached. If the raw gluten free product starts out thicker, because it can't rely on protein gelation for strength later on, then perhaps it will be more prone to reaching that minimum cohesiveness earlier, before all of the starch actually has had a chance to gelatinize.

I recommend scrapping the toothpick test for the gluten-free products. If it doesn't differentiate between "done" and "not done", there is not much point in doing it. Experiment with figuring out what a more reliable way of testing the product might be. If you have one of those oven probe thermometers, you could do some internal temperature monitoring, and examine how the maximum internal temperature reached correlates with the cooled product properties. Internal temperature seems as though it would be the most reliable way to predict doneness, although if you pay close attention to the gluten free things coming out of the oven at the right degree of doneness, you might be able to identify some characteristic that could signal doneness as conveniently as the toothpick, so you don't need the thermometer every time.

_________________No. No. fork life allatimes. - mumblesThat commercial didn't make me want to go out and buy Dove, but this thread did make me sniff my armpits. They smell like apricot. - designedtobekind

I'd guess that for a final product to be the correct texture, that maybe the starting batter must be thicker relative to the desired final texture than a batter containing proteins with structure-providing ability.

_________________No. No. fork life allatimes. - mumblesThat commercial didn't make me want to go out and buy Dove, but this thread did make me sniff my armpits. They smell like apricot. - designedtobekind